Key takeaways

Employers reliant on a foreign workforce should already be familiar with the last round of minimum qualifying salary increases in 2020.

By continuing these qualifying salary increases for new EP applications, as set out in the table below, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) seeks to ensure that EP holders are of the right calibre, on the basis that the quantum an employer is prepared to pay is a practical indicator of the quality of the EP holder.

For current EP holders, these changes will apply to renewal applications from September 2023 to allow employers sufficient time to adjust.

Do note that the minimum qualifying salary is only one of the criteria used in assessing applicants for an EP, and the government has stated its intent to also introduce refinements to improve the complementarity and diversity of Singapore’s foreign workforce, as well as to increase certainty and transparency for businesses.

The MOM will seek to ensure that EP applicants are comparable in quality to the top one-third of Singapore’s local Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians. Moreover, EP holders must be professionals and senior executives who can realise the following:

• Contribute to Singapore’s economy
• Sharpen the skills of those they work with
• Strengthen Singapore’s workforce

As is the case with regulating professional foreign employees, the minimum qualifying salary for S Pass applicants has also been increased to ensure that mid-skilled foreign employees are of the right quality and comparable the top one-third of local Associate Professionals and Technicians (ATPs). We summarise the increases to the S Pass holders minimum qualifying salary below:

* The MOM will finalise the projected increases for 2023 and 2025 closer to the implementation date, based on prevailing local wages for the ATP workforce at the time.

The MOM also currently regulates the number of S Pass holders with sub-Dependency Ratio Ceilings (DRC) and Foreign Worker Levy Rates. To better manage the flow of S Pass holders, the MOM will progressively raise the Tier 1 levy from the current SGD 330 to match the Tier 2 levy of SGD 650 by 2025, with the incremental increases summarised below:

*Note the following S Pass sub-DRC sectoral differences:

• 18% in the Manufacturing, Construction, Marine Shipyard and Process sectors
• 10% in the Services sector

For more background on measures taken by the MOM to ensure employers strengthen their Singapore core and avoid nationality-based discriminatory hiring practices, please see our past alerts:

• Policies announced to support the Singapore workforce, deter nationality discrimination
• Continued tightening of the work pass requirement and significant updates on the work pass salary criteria (effective 1 September, 1 October and 1 December 2020) and further expansion of the job advertising requirement (effective 1 October 2020)
• Tightening of employment pass regulations for overseas intra-corporate transferee
• Ministry of Manpower enforces fair and progressive employment practices against discriminatory employers

We expect the MOM to soon finalise these increases to reflect these latest policies controlling the number and calibre of foreign professionals and other workers.

We will keep you informed on developments on this front. In the meantime, if you have any queries regarding this or any related employment matter, please feel free to contact us.

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